Multiplayer VR detective
"The story of Caroline Black" is a project based one of my coolest concepts so far. It is a roleplay detective VR game where 4 players roleplay 4 given characters. Each character has a carefully crafted backstory and predefined motivation. All together the backstories of the characters form the murder story of Caroline Black. Following predefined motives players naturally interact with other players trying to protect their secrets and uncover the secrets of others. This creates an exciting and unpredictable dramatic narrative adventure that players create for each other.
The game takes place in a 19th century British mansion that is filled with varios clues that can help the players to uncover the truth. Each clue can be interprited in multiple ways allowing players to improvise and define their story.
I have designed narrative in a way that characters have mutual and individual secrets that they have to protect. This motivates players to both create improvised lies and work together with other players creating dramatic emergent interactions.
I have designed narrative in a way that characters have mutual and individual secrets that they have to protect. This motivates players to both create improvised lies and work together with other players creating dramatic emergent interactions.
To solve the ludonarrative dissonance problem I have designed a “memories system”, which would display short text tips about memories a character has with each important object in the game. For example, when an actor playing Lord Robert interacts with the letter that his character wrote, game would tell him “I remember writing this letter to Claire last month”. This helps players react correctly to clues and simulates the “passive” memories. This worked wonderfully, helping players to orient in a complex narrative while not being overwhelmed with too much information at a time.
In addition to game and narrative disign I have also played a role of an art director and environmental artist while creating the mansion environments.
